This invention relates to an array of driven, non-identical oscillators. With greater specificity, but without limitation thereto, the invention relates to an array of driven, non-identical, vibratory gyroscopes whose phases are synchronized via a coupling network.
Current designs for vibratory gyroscopes typically use one sensor per angular axis or an arbitrary number of independent gyroscopes per angular axis. For the case of a single gyroscope, sensitivity improves as the gyro's proof mass is increased; however sufficiently increasing the proof mass is not always practical or even possible. Sensitivity can also be enhanced by using an array of independent vibratory gyroscopes, all of which are arranged to sense along a single angular axis. In such an array, each gyroscope will have its own electronics to excite its drive axis and to demodulate its output signal. These additional electronics increase the size and power requirements of the array. The size, power, and cost of the accompanying electronics necessary for each gyroscope in the array limit the usefulness of this approach.
In the oscillator field, it is desirable to achieve the enhanced sensitivity that an array of oscillators can offer, while at the same time minimizing gyroscope proof mass alteration and associated electronics.